What Is an Eco-Footprint

Learn more about The Footprint, Our Earth and The Earth's Land Usage.

In their book, Our Ecological Footprint, Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees from the University of British Columbia have defined this footprint as a measure of the productive land and water "that would be required to support a person's current lifestyle forever." All that we consume and use, and all the waste resulting from our consumption, is supplied by, and absorbed by nature. The Ecological Footprint is a measure of how much "nature" we need to support ourselves.

There are fewer than 2 hectares of productive land and sea space for each person on the earth if we all shared equally. The average Canadian uses almost four times this much. By understanding how much we have, and how much we need, we can move forward on our EcoVoyage to find new ways to live within the earth's limits. Start Now!

In EcoVoyageurs, you can learn how to measure the demands we make on our environment. This measure is called the Ecological Footprint.